Studenting

There’s an untrue myth circulating. The story offers that NASA, when confronted with the problem of ink being useless in zero gravity, spent millions of dollars on creating the now famous Fisher Astronaut Pen, while their cosmonaut rivals in the USSR opted to simply use a pencil. This is actually not the case. Fisher was not hired by NASA to design the pen, nor did he charge NASA any money when he requested they look at the implement he had invented on his own time. Both nations used grease pencils before the pen’s invention and now all countries with a space program use the Fisher Pen.

The lesson in the parable is an important one, I suppose: it’s wise not to over think things. Keep It Simple, Stupid. Knights In Satan’s Service. Something like that…

Now that heavy-handed intro is complete, I have been having difficulty keeping it simple. First year film school throws a lot at you. If you ever want to know what it’s like then listen the fuck up. It’s a filtering process. In one way they are filtering the wheat from the chaff. Those who are serious and those who are dilettantes. Moreover they are also truncating your vision of yourself as a filmmaker and forcing you to decide just what (of the ~ 160 jobs on a feature film) is it that you want to do? There’s a class on producing and business. One on lighting and camera. One on editing. One on writing. One on directing. One on location scouting. One on casting. I could go on. I do sometimes. Go on.

You get assignments in your first few weeks like writing a film review or writing a short essay on how commercial stylists manipulate you, it’s film theory and a little boring. Then you write a short script and the class votes on the four or five best ones. You get split into groups and are given specific roles. You treat it like you’re goddamn Louis Morneau on the set of Carnosaur 2 or something. You have to audition actors and talk to make-up people, call ahead to reserve locations and work under a deadline. It’s intense, but incredibly fun. And I think I might be good at it.

I’m as myopic as ever in my focus. Nothing has swayed me from the writer/director path I’ve always assumed I wanted. Technical aspects aren’t my bag, baby. It’s, at times, frustrating dealing with peripheral duties I’d rather not sully myself with, but they’re all integral parts of the process and necessary to understand if you want to be a filmmaker of any capacity. So please don’t take this as complaining. I am somewhere where I should be. I endeavour to separate myself. To not get caught up in the vanity of displaying ‘good taste’ or the peer pressure to be campy or think that Fight Club was the greatest achievement by any human being in the history of art. Shit, it wasn’t even the best movie to come out that year.

I haven’t met my like-minded mates yet, but I’m assured of my reasons for being here. I just hope I can keep it simple and make something you guys will like.